Mercer University
Detroit Mercy
Lacrosse Falters in Second Half, Falls 16-7 to Detroit
2/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer men's lacrosse team allowed 11 second-half goals, including being outscored 7-0 in the third quarter to drop their fourth-straight to start the season; this time losing to Detroit, 16-7 on Saturday at Bear Field.
The Bears (0-4) kept pace throughout much of the first half and walked into halftime down just, 5-4. However, a lackadaisical third quarter caught the Bears off guard and turned out to be the difference in the game. The Titans scored the first nine goals of the second half and put any hopes of a Bears comeback quickly out of sight.
The Titans had 20 more shots (45-25) than the Bears in the game and Mercer committed 41 turnovers in what was a somewhat of a sloppy afternoon for both teams.
A quiet first quarter saw just two goals with Detroit taking a 1-0 lead off a Scott Drummond goal less than three minutes in. Mercer freshman attackman Jay DeBole tied the game at one with his second goal of the season with just over three to play in the first.
The teams traded goals to start the second before Detroit rattled off three unanswered to take a 5-2 lead with just over five to play in the half. Sophomores Brett Eisenmann and Harry Baker each scored within a minute of each other to bring the Bears back to within one before the half ended.
Over the next quarter and a half the Titans had six different players record nine goals to take a decisive 14-4 lead with just over 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. Drummond led the Titans attack posting a hat-trick while five other players had multiple goals on the day.
The Bears didn't quit however, scoring three more goals in the final 10 minutes of the game. Sophomore Cole Branch netted his fifth of the season to snap the Titans nine-goal scoring streak. Sophomore Zack Ward added a team-high two goals in the final five minute to give round out the Bears scoring.
Ward leads the team with seven goals on the year and also added an assist in the game to go along with a team-high seven shots.
The Bears head out for their first official roadtrip of the season next weekend heading to Jacksonville to play Big 10 foe and first-year program Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bears will stay in the River City all week to play two additional games against Holy Cross (Tues. March 6 at 1 p.m.) and Jacksonville (Sat. March 10 at 1 p.m.).
